DAY THIRTY (12/14/12)

The final day...

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     Alarm goes off and like a kid on Christmas morning, Rachel was jumping on the bed before I could even get the alarm turned off.  My last day of this challenge; her last day of undergraduate school.  Pretty cool.  She took off to go take her last final right away and I went to go hit up my last brush teeth/workout routine.  The difference here is that hers is much more important than mine, but mine will continue on after this day.

2 - Scottish Shower

     TWENTY MINUTES IN FREEZING WATER!!  Going out with a bang.  I wasn't going to have some lame, tepid finale to this whole contrivance.  I stayed under that faucet 'til I was good and ready.  'Til I made for damn certain that I would remember this feeling if for some reason I didn't follow through with cold showers in the future.  I will probably take a hot shower tomorrow just to remember what they feel like, but I'll return to cold showers afterward.  Not ice-cold, but colder than most of you would enjoy.


3 - No Television

     I have so much work to do on the music side of things that I don't even have time to think about TV.  I did look at Redbox and Netflix the other night, just to see what was new.  There are a lot of new movies that I need to/want to see.  But I don't think I'll be wasting much time on programmed television anymore after this Challenge.

4 - Clean My Room

      The room is clean for the most part.  I have a lot musical instruments and workout equipment scattered around, but they're functional clutter.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      I haven't written the day's song yet.  It is 11:00am as I'm typing this.  What's weighing the heaviest on my mind is the 24 songs that I have to record/mix/produce in the next proposed week.  I'm not sure how I'm going to do it.  I will forewarn you though...some of these songs are going to be shit.  Shit songs.  Simple writing for the sake of having to jot something down.


6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Lesson of the day:  There is some obscure muscle in my shoulder that has never been worked out before.  I'M REALLY SORE!  I've been doing jumping jacks the last few days.  Apparently this obscure shoulder muscle is not used in push-ups, presses or butterfly curls.  Only jumping jacks.  Pain is gain!  (It's a myth, but still fun to say)

I will be writing a conclusion/update/thoughts about the next challenge in about a week when I'm done posting all of the music.  Thanks to everyone for the continued support!!  God bless!

DAY TWENTY-NINE (12/13/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     I'm getting the hang of this challenge.  I should.  It's DAY TWENTY-NINE!  I will definitely be making this an on-going habit, which was the point of this challenge in the first place.  I love getting up at 6:00am, working out and eating breakfast with the sunrise.  Even more so, I love not being rushed in the morning.  I've truly tapped an undiscoverd reservoir of peace and serenity.

2 - Scottish Shower

     Second to last day, I made this shower cold as heck and stayed in there for at least 10-12 minutes.  My hands were eerily purple when I got out.  I'm not sure if this is exactly healthy, but what-the-hay, it didn't kill me!

3 - No Television

     Rachel and I went over to her mother's house for supper.  Good roast!  After supper, they went downstairs to watch Survivor.  I went home to write/work on the "Day Twenty-Nine" song.

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      "Day Twenty-Nine" is quite a despairing ballad.  I really like half of it; the other half, not so much.  I'll probably re-work that half a bit when I go through the overwhelming process of producing this song.  (Along with the other 24 songs over the next week.  YIKES!)

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Wake up, brush teeth, workout.  What a great way to start the morning.  I've also been monitoring other radio stations' morning shows and commercials while working out.  Talking about killing a whole flock of birds with one stone.  This routine is staying around!

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT (12/12/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     Only two more days of this nonsense!  Not really.  I'm getting the hang of this 6:00am business.  Finally in a healthy routine of getting up early, working out and eating breakfast.  I will not be switching back to waking up just in time to get to work. I will, however, be sleeping in later than 6:00 on the weekend.

2 - Scottish Shower

     In the last week or so I have been notching the shower knob a little to the warm side.  It's still ice-cold, but with the ground temp getting ridiculously low, it's just not sane to keep it on the coldest setting.  Today was different.  I turned on the HOT water and got the bathroom nice and steamy.  Then slapped that handle all the way "C"-ward.  It's the coldest water I've showered with yet.  And I stayed under the stream the whole time.  I want to go out with a bang on the last three days.  It was "bangin'" alright.

3 - No Television

     I watched about 10 minutes of Baseketball on DVD while I was eating lunch, then promply went up to the office to start writing day "Day Twenty-Eight".

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      "Day Twenty-Eight" had its beginnings over the lunch hour.  It sounds very similar to a song I've heard before, but I can't put my finger on it.  Late 70's Led Zeppelin/Rolling Stones-esque.  I don't know, but I don't want it to sound like I'm over-influenced or plagarizing.  I will possibly modify it later tonight.  I'll see if I can find the sound-alike song here at the radio station.  I'm really curious as to what I'm mimicking even though I don't know what it is that I'm mimicking.

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Today I added 100 jumping jacks to the mix.  I hope my bouncing around on the 2nd floor at 6:15am isn't too loud for my neighbors, but then again...they should be doing the same thing!!

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN (12/11/12)

Last night was....different.  Rachel got the flu.  A nasty one.  I got home at 5:00pm after work and her mom was already on the way to take her to the ER.  She's doing better, but I have to extol her for her persistence and resilience.  After two hours at the hospital, she returned home, sick as Hell, and went to sleep.  She got up at 11:00pm because she had a paper due at 10 this morning.  That's an exemplary student right there.  Even though she was walking around like a zombie who'd spun around 20 times with its forehead on a baseball bat being led by a drunk seeing-eye dog, she splashed onto the couch and started writing a term paper.  Her mom brought her some Gatorade at 4:00am and she kept on truckin'...still typing up the final draft when I went to work at 8:00 this morning.  The Nike motto ain't got shit on my Rachel.

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     Got up on time this morning.  Rachel was still downstairs pluggin' away on her paper, sippin' Gatorade.  Routine in full swing - Brush teeth, Work out.

2 - Scottish Shower

     It was really cold in the bathroom this morning so I ran hot water for a few minutes to steam things up.  I'm looking forward to taking a celebratory hot shower on Day 31.  Just being able to shower for more than 10 minutes might be nice.

3 - No Television

     TV really doesn't interest me much anymore.  The lack of snacking in front of the tube really opens up free time and I'm sure it's much healthier too.  Nowadays, I only eat because I have to, and I'm really enjoying eating as a means of survival, not entertainment.

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

I started producing some songs last night.   I expect to spend some significant time recording material tonight as well.  I completed yesterday's song, "Day Twenty-Six".  I will publish it in yesterday's post as well as upload it to Facebook over my lunch break.  Like I said yesterday, it's weird.  Pretty much just hit some keys on the piano and went from there.

When I finish this Challenge on Friday, I will then start to record all of the songs.  I will most likely include a final post with all of the songs available in order with a little synopsis about the writing/production of each song.
     
6 - 30 Minute Workout

     This vague challenge has done something I didn't anticipate.  First off, my physical results are minimal.  I should have pushed myself harder and will in the future, but my mental results are extraordinary.  Not because "I look great, I feel great" or anything.  It's just helped me start the day right in a healthy way and has taught me that there is ALWAYS time in the day to better yourself. 

There are so many things we do everyday that are complete wastes of time.  Give up a half hour of junk and replace it with a half hour of something that will matter tomorrow.  Give up one TV show for a half hour of reading, playing a musical instrument, learning a new language, learning to juggle.  There are 24 hours in a day.  48 half hours.  That's 48 chances to improve yourself  EVERY DAY!  There's a time slot for improvement in your busy day.  No excuses. 

I've always said, "Do something today worth talking about tomorrow" but I guess my new motto is "Develop or decompose." 

Just 27 days ago, I was a bum.  Sleeping in 'til the last possible moment to rush to work, snacking in front of the TV the moment I got home from work, not learning anything, going through the same boring-as-f*** routine.  I'm no superman now, but I feel great because I've discovered something.  Life is short, death is inevitable, and my life is just a clock counting down.  BUT I have control of the clock.  And now it's a race.  Not to death, but to a finish line.  And I'm gonna run as hard as I can until I snap that ribbon.  The race will be over, but at least I can say I had a good run.

DAY TWENTY-SIX (12/10/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     I did it!  I slapped the crap out of my alarm. "Get it off!!!!!"  Then turned to Rachel, who might have been dead she was sleeping so hard, and said, "Good morning!"  No reply.

2 - Scottish Shower

     Brushed teeth, worked out, took a cold shower.  I'm getting pretty good at this stuff.

3 - No Television

     Well...I was really starting to like today.  But then today had to go and suck balls.  One...it's really cold!  Two...so cold that the locks on my driver-side door froze.  I climbed in through the passenger side and managed to kick open the door, but the latch is still frozen.  I've tried everything I know (hot water, WD40, etc.) and nothing works.  Good news: I only need one arm to drive, thus I can hold my door shut.  Bad news:  It isn't going to be warm enough to thaw my door until Wednesdsay.

4 - Clean My Room

      Still loving the new configuration. 


5 - Write A Song Every Day

      I wrote today's song over lunch.  Or at least started it.  It's....weird.  I basically sat at the piano and used the first sequence of notes I randomly hit.  I worked them into some sort of melody and BAM!  Just kept playing it until it made sense.  I'll probably transpose it tonight in the key of G so I can easily mix in a banjo part or uke part.  Having fun with the keys!  Thanks again, Liz.  Here's the link: DAY 26 SONG


6 - 30 Minute Workout

Pretty good workout this morning before the whole day fell apart.  I can tell that certain exercises are getting easier as I'm building back those muscle groups.  I still look out-of-shape, but I feel really good.

Only FOUR more days to go.  I have recently been thinking about my next round of challenges and what I should do.  I'm not really sure what I'll be doing, but one lesson I have learned during this Challenge is that it's really hard to keep on track around the holidays.  I will probably wait 'til after New Years to start the next round.  Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

DAY TWENTY-FIVE (12/9/12)

Home-stretch!  Last week of the Challenge.

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     I worked this morning at 8:30am.  I got up at 7:00am to fit in a workout and some breakfast.

2 - Scottish Shower

     The great benefits from taking cold showers have finally plateaued.  My face broke out today.  Badly.  I guess you can only have so much wonderful.  I'm still sticking with the cold showers after this Challenge though.  I really enjoy them now.

3 - No Television

     Rachel and I worked at Perkins this morning.  Afterwards, she went to a baby shower and I went home to write the "Day Twenty-Five" song.  Later, we decorated our Christmas tree, played some cards and ate a hugh supper.  I proceeded into a food coma and passed out on the couch again.

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      "Day Twenty-Five" is a straight-up 12-bar blues-esque shuffle, an obvious choice for ease of mixing piano and guitar together.  I haven't done too many blues-fueled songs for this Challenge, so I figured...why not!

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Got 'er in this morning before work.  I was right yesterday when I said I was going to be sore from moving furniture.  I'm sore.

DAY TWENTY-FOUR (12/8/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     As I had mentioned in earlier posts, this challenge was not well-thought-out.  I really intended this challenge to get me up at 6:00am on weekdays, so I'm not rushed getting ready for work.  That being said, it's the weekend, and I slept in 'til 9:00am.  When I got up it felt like Noon.  It was strange being in bed with the sun up.  I always get up before the sun and go to bed after the sun goes down.  RED LIGHT it is!

2 - Scottish Shower

     I may have slept in three hours past my proposed wake-time, but this was one of the most productive days I've had since I started this Challenge.  I popped out of bed, worked out and took a freezing cold shower.  BOOM!  I was jolted into Productivity Mode.

3 - No Television

     No time for TV!  I cleaned the bathroom, kitchen and the junk closet.  I did what seemed like a year-supply of laundry.  I cleaned out my car and brought Rachel's old dresser up to my office.  I rearranged my office to accommodate my new 88-key electric piano; a most-gracious gift from Rachel's mom.  Thanks Liz!  I love the new arrangement of my office.  It took a long time to reconfigure all of my music equipment, but I really love the new setup.  Rachel came home from work in the afternoon.  We played a few games of cards, cooked a giant supper and both passed out on the couches.  Great day!

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean and rearranged = Ethan is very happy.


5 - Write A Song Every Day

    "Day Twenty-Four" is (thanks to the new keyboard) a quirky, campy tune fueled by a super simple and cheesy piano melody.  I really wanted to produce it immediately, but was just too busy cleaning and rearranging furniture/equipment and organizing thousands of cords.


6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Got my workout in this morning, not to mention moving a lot of heavy furniture.  I'll be really sore tomorrow.

DAY TWENTY-THREE (12/7/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     Best wake-up yet!  Alarm went off, I popped out of bed like a jack-in-the-box and was off to punch this day right in the face!

2 - Scottish Shower

     Easy-Peasy-Lemon-Squeezy!  I think I'm throwing hot showers out of the mix forever.  It's a wonderful cool-down after working out and the health benefits are amazing after twenty-three days.

3 - No Television

     Free Redbox last night.  Rachel and I watched a horror movie (go figure) called Chained.  Pretty decent movie.  Different for sure.  Today on my lunch break we started Prometheus (other Redbox freebie).  We'll finish that tonight and that will be the most "TV" I've watched in over three weeks.

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      As of 3:30pm, I still haven't written anything.  I will do so tonight.

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Workout today was great.  I'm up to 100 sit-ups, 75 push-ups, 4 sets of 20 curls and a bunch of other random calisthenics.  Yeah, it's really cold outside, but I think I'm gonna pull a Rocky tomorrow and bundle up for a run.  DAMN I FEEL GREAT!!

DAY TWENTY-TWO (12/6/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     Holy crazy dream night, Batman!  I woke up to a flashback of like a dozen dreams, remembering all of them in full detail.  They were all happy dreams too!  I invented a great holiday gift idea of decoratively jarring my own blend of spices, meat rubs and condiments; played capture-the-flag with Adam Sandler after his controlling mother had too many daiquiris; visited a Caribou Coffee; lit a house on fire (in a happy way); and so much more!  Yup, it was really hard to get up after all of that.


2 - Scottish Shower

     I've become so used to cold water, I now find myself trying to get the water even colder just to feel a difference.  It's cold, but I'm loving it.  Clarification:  I like cold showers; I love the fact that I can do it, no one I know can, and I have successfully beat this challenge.

3 - No Television

     This challenge was really hard in the first few days, but not anymore.  I got lucky.  I have so many other challenges to distract myself.  I don't think I could do it without all of the distractions.  Life is kind of boring without the TV on.  That statement, however true, is really disgusting.

4 - Clean My Roomf

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      Today's song is written in drop-tuning CACGCE again simply because I was too lazy to change the tuning.  It's a very airy (for lack of better words) wide riff similar to The Rolling Stones' intro on "Monkey Man".  This could be a fun soundscape to record.  My goal (as of now) is to have all 30 songs recorded-produced-posted by December 22nd.  That gives me a solid week after the Challenge to focus on the task.  It will be interesting to go back and interpret my writing weeks after the fact.

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Great workout this morning!  I just wish I could fit in some more cardio.  Ceiling is too low for jump rope.  I suppose I could try jumping jacks n' stuff, but I'd rather just run.  Jean-Claude, here I come!

DAY TWENTY-ONE (12/5/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     Late night celebrating a friend's birthday and playing cards with Rachel.  Woke up with the alarm at 6:00am.  Rachel looks at me, "It's okay Honey.  You can go back to sleep."  I did.  Thanks for enabling me, Baby!

2 - Scottish Shower

     I finally got up at 7:00am.  I will admit there was a point in this Challenge that I did NOT want to take any more cold showers, but now I'm completely used to them.  It's pretty cool how accustomed to the cold I am.

3 - No Television

     I'm so tired today.  There's nothing I want to do more than curl up on the couch and watch Netflix, but I won't.  I've got music to produce...some day.

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      "Day Twenty-One" is a song that I started writing a LONG time ago.  I was noodling around with my guitar on my lunch hour and the riff came back to me.  I'll work out all the kinks from what I remember of the song after ten years of hibernation and add some more stuff to it.  I think it could become my favorite song.  It's in a really airy, open tuning of CACGCE instead of EADGBE.  It's a drop-tuning I learned from watching Jimmy Page play one of my favorite songs, Bron-Yr-Aur.

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Still have to exercise tonight since I slept in.  I feel really bummed-out today because I didn't work out right away this morning.  It really is amazing how much better I feel about the day and myself when I exercise.  Go figure, the scientists are right!

DAY TWENTY (12/4/12)

2/3 of the way in.  Now we're really rockin'!!

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     I usually try living my life according to what the thunder said, "Damyata (be self-controlled), datta (be charitable), dayadhvam (be compassioniate)", but this morning I was craving a little more inspiration.  I cracked open the ol' Bible.  Opened right up to Proverbs 20.  This is really eerie.  It's DAY TWENTY of this Challenge AND the challenge I'm struggling with the most is waking up at 6:00am.  Seek and the Lord delivers, I guess.  Satisfied, I had oatmeal for breakfast and arrived to work a half hour early lest I come to poverty.



2 - Scottish Shower

     Here's a fun fact:  Cold water (bleeping) rocks!  Climate here is more dry than a (extremely dry simile).  Normally, this is how it goes: Face is dry - Apply lotion to face - Face breaks out - Suffer through dry skin and zits for 4+ months.  NOT ANYMORE!  Cold water closes your pores.  I haven't had a breakout in weeks AND I've been able to lube up the ol' face with thick after-sun lotion.  THIS ROCKS!!!  Suck on that prepubertal-esque, crappy Irish skin!

3 - No Television

     While I'm at it, the TV can suck it too!  Sayonara stupid shows!

4 - Clean My Room

      Office is clutter-free.  Movin' on...

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      "Day Twenty" is just a happy, fun rhythm&blues diddy.  Probably in a good mood today with all this sunshine!  This one will be simple and fun to record.

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     One-hundred sit-ups this morning.  I feel like I got shivved in a prison riot, but it feels really good to have pushed myself.  I'm not gonna stop working out until I can get powder thrown in my eyes, go blind and still destroy the guy.

DAY NINETEEN (12/3/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     This morning was rough.  I laid in bed for eight minutes, weighing the pros and cons of getting up early.  It was a slight victory for the 'angel shoulder'.  Got up, brushed my teeth, worked out.  Success!

2 - Scottish Shower

     I'm now immune to cold water.  I stood in there for about twelve minutes today.  One thing sucked: I forgot my towel.  Dripping wet to my room and back was benumbing.  I won't make that mistake again.  The key to getting out of a cold shower is NO WIND!  No quick movements 'til you're dry.

3 - No Television

     Instead of television, I worked hard catching up on music production.  I went all the way back to DAY FOUR.  (Holy crap!  I'm fourteen days behind in production.  I've only recorded/posted Days 1, 2, 3, 5, 6)  DAY FOUR is a load of crap!  A mindlessly simple song, yet impossible to mix.  I spent three hours trying to put this load of manure together...and failed.  I'll go back to DAY FOUR at the end of this Challenge.  I moved on (pissed as all Hell - Rachel witnessed) to DAY NINE.  I got most of the tracks in the can, but when I went back to mix, I realized I read some of the music in the wrong key (idiot!) and have to redo it.  I'll get more done tomorrow night.  Hopefully!

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy...and still pissed about the DAY FOUR song.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      I spent most of the night unsuccessfully catching up on recording older songs, but still saved time to write down a pretty decent lick for DAY NINETEEN.  Mission accomplished, but I really want to get more songs posted.  It's more fun to produce an actual product, than just having the magic down on paper.

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Still haven't gotten the gym membership, but I'm doing just fine with free weights and stairs.  Moral of the story: FREE IS FREE!

DAY EIGHTEEN (12/2/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     Again, it's the weekend.  I had a late night last night and worked at 8:00am.  I only slept in 'til 7:00am, so it's really not that big of a deal.

2 - Scottish Shower

     I'm finally immune to cold water.  This is the first day that I stayed under the stream the whole time - about ten minutes, which is a long time in freezing temp water.

3 - No Television

Rachel and I worked at Perkins this morning, then we went home and napped 'til 7:00pm.  I wrote a song, worked out and went to bed.  Simple enough.  No TV.  Looks like I'm three weeks behind on my Walking Dead.  It's kind of tough avoiding spoilers online.

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

"Day Eighteen" is another eerie tune.  I retuned my guitar to mimic my ukulele and will be playing them both in sync on alternating left/right channels.  It should sound pretty freaky/scary.  Or just dumb.  We'll see when I get around to recording it.

6 - 30 Minute Workout

Worked out after a nice nap this evening.  Mostly just push-ups and sit-ups.  Back on the free weights now.  Started carrying 40lbs up and down the stairs on my shoulders.  This is really hard considering my little chicken-legs.  Neck is back to normal though!

DAY SEVENTEEN (12/1/12)

You may have noticed, everyday I include a picture that has no connection to the blog other than some form of the DAY number.  However, this day I avoided some thing.
1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     I slept in 'til 10:00am.  It's the weekend, back off!  Honestly, I really didn't think this challenge through when I started this whole thing.  The theory was to sign myself up for 6:00am weekdays so my workday morning wasn't so rushed.  Sure, I've got things to do on the weekend, but sometimes a guy deserves to sleep in.

2 - Scottish Shower

     I showered at 1:00pm just before going to work.  I REALLY wanted to take a hot shower.  I mean REALLY.  I even turned the shower to HOT while I was getting ready and right before I jumped in I reconsidered.  It's cold, it sucks, but I'm always thankful afterwards.  It's pretty much just like everything else in this 30 Days Challenge...it don't want to do it, but I'm glad I did.

3 - No Television

     I haven't really watched anything on a screen for over two weeks, so I semi-brokedown and watched The Dark Knight while I was doing laundry n' stuff.  I didn't sit there and snack all day though!

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      I'm writing this on Monday and seriously can't remember what I wrote on Saturday.  I know I wrote it, but I really can't remember anything about it other than it's simple and probably will be a really boring recording when I get to it.

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Neck is getting back near normal.  I still can't touch my ears to my shoulders, but the pain is mostly gone.  I'm back to doing push-ups, sit-ups and leg exercises, but no free weights yet.  Just babyin' the neck.

DAY SIXTEEN (11/30/12)

One day over the halfway hump and I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed.  This is becoming a lot of work.

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     Waking up early has its benefits, but it's hard to remember those benefits when you wake up so warm, comfy and in a half-comatose daze.  The sun hasn't even gotten his ass out of bed (in my time zone), why should I!?!  But I do...barely...and I'm thankful later.

2 - Scottish Shower

       The ground temp has made my coldest setting even colder.  Today I had to turn the knob two taps to the warm.  I'd rather not lose an appendage to frost bite during this Challenge.

3 - No Television

     Rachel is in Edina taking the GRE for grad school and as of 12:30pm, she will have a huge weight lifted of her overbearing load.  I believe it's time for a celebration.  Probably steak!  (No TV!)

4 - Clean My Room

      Room is clean and I need to get cookin' on recording my songs.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      Usually the first thing people ask me when I tell them about this 30 Day Challenge is, "How do you write a song every day?  That's crazy!  I could never do that." 
I wish my answer was something like this:  “If you want to do something, just go for it and give it a try! You don’t have to be a professional to do something. Amateurs started Google and Apple. Professionals built the Titanic.”  But I usually reply with something stupid like, "I just do it."  I don't have a lot of education in music and I'm not very good at it, but I love it and it's fun.  I thought I kind of had most of it figured out when I started this challenge, but HOLY SHIT I'm learning a lot about structure, styles, voicing, sound waveform and audio software capabilities.  NOW THIS IS FUN!

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Neck is still really sore, but I was able to do some push-ups and worked out the legs (squats, stairs).  I don't feel as good as I did a few days ago, but when my neck is better and I can do a full workout, I'll feel better.

DAY FIFTEEN (Thursday 11/29/12)

Half way through this thing...

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     I just realized this morning that my bedroom's window blinds are open.  They have been since I started this Challenge fifteen days ago.  I guess I get up before the sun and go to bed after it does.  The hardest thing about getting up at 6:00am is that the sun isn't up yet.  But it comes up right after I get out of the shower.  Perfect timing!  I enjoy eating breakfast next to our huge sliding glass door.  It's beautiful!

2 - Scottish Shower

     Today's shower was the coldest yet.  BY FAR!  It's the first day I dropped an f'bomb while rinsing off.  The ground temp is so low that I might have to turn the knob a little further warmer as to not get sick in the future. 
(Content advisory)  Somebody asked me the other day, "What's the last part of your body to warm back up?  Your feet?"  A:  Nope,  it's my balls.

3 - No Television

     Spent the evening at Rachel's old apartment cleaning and moving things.  Cleaning sucked.  I thought my old apartment was dirty... Mike Rowe would even touch this dirty job.

4 - Clean My Room

      Cleaned my room while Rachel wrote a paper in my room/office.


5 - Write A Song Every Day

      DAY FIFTEEN is simple, yet I'm REALLY excited to produce it and post it on here.  I just jammed out a melody and rhythm (verse and middle eight) on the ukulele, but it's really haunting.  It could be an eerie instrumental a la horror soundtrack, but then again...who knows what will happen when I actually put it all together in the studio.

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     I opted out of a traditional workout this morning because of my neck, but I did spend three hours scrubbing Rachel's kitchen and moving heavy furniture, so I will still give myself a GREEN light on this one.

DAY FOURTEEN (Wednesday 11/28/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     I popped out of bed this morning like I was 8yrs old on Christmas.  Don't know why, it just happened that way.  This morning was going to be great.  Was.  I brushed my teeth and went to work out.  Something happened and I broke my neck.  No, I did not literally break my neck, although I haven't gotten a professional opinion from anyone in a white coat.  I spent about an hour this morning on the floor trying to move my neck.  It's now 4:00ish in the afternoon and it hurts like Hell, but you're not reading this blog to hear me complain about my atrophied body.

2 - Scottish Shower

     Nothing fixes a 'broken' neck like an ice bath that would make a polar bear whiz his knickers.  Actually this didn't help at all.  It just made me tense up and made my neck feel even worse.  YOWCH!

3 - No Television

     I don't even have time for this nonsense today.

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      Last night I joined an online group of musicians and sound engineers.  Within that group I learned about VST and DXi plugins as well as a bunch of other audio-nerd stuff.  I also got a bunch of new software from these sound engineer nerds.  I should have some pretty cool stuff coming out of the studio soon.  I still have to write a song tonight, but I don't foresee any trouble doing this since I can't do anything else with my neck holding my head up by a thread.

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     By now you got the point that my workout ended poorly.  I lifted weights for about 10mins then snap!  I finished my workout with some lunges and squats.  I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow if my neck doesn't magically heal overnight.  This whole challenge thing might be a literal pain in the neck, but I am enjoying myself still.